I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5955 

To reauthorize subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2018 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself, Mr. COSTA, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. POLIQUIN, 

Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. MESSER, 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. 

COHEN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mrs. WAGNER, Mr. DEUTCH, and Mrs. DINGELL) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reauthorize subtitle A of the Victims of Child Abuse 

Act of 1990. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Victims of Child Abuse 

5 Act Reauthorization Act of 2018’’. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5955 IH

1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 211 of the Victims of Child 

3 Abuse Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20301) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2,000,000’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘3,300,000’’; 

6 (2) in paragraph (6)— 

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘improve positive out8 comes for the child,’’ before ‘‘and increase’’; 

9 and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a 

11 semicolon; 

12 (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘could be du13 plicated in many jurisdictions throughout the coun14 try.’’ and inserting ‘‘have expanded dramatically 

15 throughout the United States; and’’; and 

16 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(8) State chapters of children’s advocacy cen18 ter networks are needed to— 

19 ‘‘(A) assist local communities in coordi20 nating their multidisciplinary child abuse inves21 tigation, prosecution, and intervention services; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) provide oversight of, and training and 

24 technical assistance in, the effective delivery of 

25 evidence-informed programming.’’. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 212 of the Victims of 

2 Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20302) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking paragraphs (3) and (6); 

4 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (7), 

5 (8), and (9) as paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), and 

6 (7), respectively; 

7 (3) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated, by 

8 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (4) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated, by 

10 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

11 and 

12 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(8) the term ‘State chapter’ means a member14 ship organization that provides technical assistance, 

15 training, coordination, grant administration, over16 sight, and support to local children’s advocacy cen17 ters, multidisciplinary teams, and communities work18 ing to implement a multidisciplinary response to 

19 child abuse in the provision of evidence-informed ini20 tiatives, including mental health counseling, forensic 

21 interviewing, multidisciplinary team coordination, 

22 and victim advocacy.’’. 

23 (c) REGIONAL CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTERS.— 

24 Section 213 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 

25 (34 U.S.C. 20303) is amended— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

3 by striking ‘‘with the Director and’’; 

4 (B) by striking paragraph (2); 

5 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

6 (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 

7 (D) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

8 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

9 (E) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— 

10 (i) by inserting after ‘‘mental health 

11 care professionals’’ the following: ‘‘, law 

12 enforcement officers, child protective serv13 ice workers, forensic interviewers, prosecu14 tors, and victim advocates,’’; 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘medical’’ each place 

16 that term appears; and 

17 (iii) by striking the period at the end 

18 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(4) collaborate with State chapters to provide 

21 training, technical assistance, coordination, and 

22 oversight to— 

23 ‘‘(A) local children’s advocacy centers; and 

24 ‘‘(B) communities that want to develop 

25 local children’s advocacy centers.’’; 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (2) in subsection (b)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

3 (i) in the matter preceding subpara4 graph (A), by striking ‘‘, in coordination 

5 with the Director,’’; 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

9 ‘‘the prevention, judicial handling, and 

10 treatment of child abuse and neglect; and’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘multidisciplinary team in12 vestigation, trauma-informed interventions, 

13 and evidence-informed treatment.’’; and 

14 (iv) by striking subparagraph (C); and 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

18 (i), by striking ‘‘communities’’ and in19 serting ‘‘communities, local children’s 

20 advocacy centers, multidisciplinary 

21 teams, and State chapters’’; 

22 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 

23 ‘‘and expanding’’ after ‘‘developing’’; 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (III) by redesignating clauses (ii) 

2 through (x) as clauses (iii) through 

3 (xi), respectively; 

4 (IV) by inserting after clause (i) 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘(ii) in promoting the effective deliv7 ery of the evidence-informed Children’s Ad8 vocacy Model and the multidisciplinary re9 sponse to child abuse, including best prac10 tices in— 

11 ‘‘(I) organizational support and 

12 development; 

13 ‘‘(II) programmatic evaluation; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(III) financial oversight of Fed16 eral funding;’’; 

17 (V) in clause (iii), as so redesig18 nated, by striking ‘‘a freestanding fa19 cility where interviews of and services 

20 for abused children can be provided’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘child-friendly facilities 

22 for the investigation of, assessment of, 

23 and intervention in abuse’’; and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (VI) in clause (iv), as so redesig2 nated, by striking ‘‘multiple’’ and in3 serting ‘‘duplicative’’; and 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

5 ‘‘and interested communities’’ after ‘‘advo6 cacy centers’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘re9 medial counseling to’’ and inserting ‘‘evidence10 informed services for’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking 

12 ‘‘multidisciplinary child abuse program’’ and in13 serting ‘‘children’s advocacy center’’; and 

14 (C) in paragraph (4)(B)— 

15 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

16 by striking ‘‘, in coordination with the Di17 rector,’’; 

18 (ii) by striking clause (iii); and 

19 (iii) by redesignating clauses (iv) and 

20 (v) as clauses (iii) and (iv), respectively; 

21 (4) in subsection (d)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, in co23 ordination with the Director,’’; and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre2 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and the 

3 Director’’; and 

4 (5) by striking subsections (e) and (f). 

5 (d) LOCAL CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTERS.—Sec6 tion 214 of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 

7 U.S.C. 20304) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordina11 tion with the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime, 

12 shall make grants to— 

13 ‘‘(1) develop and enhance multidisciplinary 

14 child abuse investigations, intervention, and prosecu15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(2) promote the effective delivery of the evi17 dence-informed Children’s Advocacy Model and the 

18 multidisciplinary response to child abuse, including 

19 best practices in programmatic evaluation and finan20 cial oversight of Federal funding.’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

23 ‘‘HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND’’ before ‘‘CHILD

24 PORNOGRAPHY’’; 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (B) by striking ‘‘with the Director and’’; 

2 and 

3 (C) by inserting ‘‘human trafficking and’’ 

4 before ‘‘child pornography’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘Director’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘Administrator’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘this section’’ and in10 serting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b)’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

12 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

13 ‘‘social service’’ and inserting ‘‘child pro14 tective service’’; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

16 ‘‘the ‘counseling center’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

17 ‘children’s advocacy center’ ’’; 

18 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

19 ‘‘sexual and serious physical abuse and ne20 glect cases to the counseling center’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘child abuse cases that meet des22 ignated referral criteria to the children’s 

23 advocacy center’’; 

24 (iv) in subparagraph (D)— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (I) by striking ‘‘investigative’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘forensic’’; and 

3 (II) by striking ‘‘social service’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘child protective serv5 ice’’; 

6 (v) by striking subparagraph (E); 

7 (vi) by redesignating subparagraphs 

8 (F) through (J) as subparagraphs (E) 

9 through (I), respectively; 

10 (vii) in subparagraph (E), as so redes11 ignated, by striking ‘‘counseling center’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘children’s advocacy center 

13 or an agency with which there is a linkage 

14 agreement regarding the delivery of multi15 disciplinary child abuse investigation, pros16 ecution, and intervention services’’; 

17 (viii) in subparagraph (F), as so re18 designated, by striking ‘‘minimize the 

19 number of interviews that a child victim 

20 must attend’’ and inserting ‘‘eliminate du21 plicative forensic interviews with a child 

22 victim’’; 

23 (ix) in subparagraph (G), as so redes24 ignated, by striking ‘‘multidisciplinary proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 05, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5955.IH H5955

dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 5955 IH

1 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘children’s advocacy 

2 center’’; 

3 (x) in subparagraph (H), as so redes4 ignated, by inserting ‘‘intervention and’’ 

5 before ‘‘judicial proceedings’’; and 

6 (xi) in subparagraph (I), as so redes7 ignated, by striking ‘‘Director’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘Administrator’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (d)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘the Director’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘the Administrator’’; and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘both large and small 

13 States’’ and inserting ‘‘all States that are eligi14 ble for such grants, including large and small 

15 States,’’; and 

16 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) GRANTS TO STATE CHAPTERS FOR ASSISTANCE

18 TO LOCAL CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTERS.—In award19 ing grants under this section, the Administrator shall en20 sure that a portion of the grants is distributed to State 

21 chapters to enable State chapters to provide technical as22 sistance, training, coordination, and oversight to other re23 cipients of grants under this section in providing evidence24 informed initiatives, including mental health counseling, 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 5955 IH

1 forensic interviewing, multidisciplinary team coordination, 

2 and victim advocacy.’’. 

3 (e) GRANTS FOR SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL ASSIST4 ANCE AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Section 214A of the 

5 Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20305) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘to attorneys’’ 

8 and all that follows and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘to— 

10 ‘‘(1) attorneys and other allied professionals in11 strumental to the criminal prosecution of child abuse 

12 cases in State or Federal courts, for the purpose of 

13 improving the quality of criminal prosecution of such 

14 cases; and 

15 ‘‘(2) child abuse professionals instrumental to 

16 the protection of children, intervention in child abuse 

17 cases, and treatment of victims of child abuse, for 

18 the purpose of— 

19 ‘‘(A) improving the quality of such protec20 tion, intervention, and treatment; and 

21 ‘‘(B) promoting the effective delivery of the 

22 evidence-informed Children’s Advocacy Model 

23 and the multidisciplinary response to child 

24 abuse, including best practices in programmatic 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 5955 IH

1 evaluation and financial oversight of Federal 

2 funding.’’; 

3 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(b) GRANTEE ORGANIZATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PROSECUTORS.—An organization to which 

7 a grant is made for specific training and technical 

8 assistance for prosecutors under subsection (a)(1) 

9 shall be one that has— 

10 ‘‘(A) a broad representation of attorneys 

11 who prosecute criminal cases in State courts; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) demonstrated experience in providing 

14 training and technical assistance for prosecu15 tors. 

16 ‘‘(2) CHILD ABUSE PROFESSIONALS.—An orga17 nization to which a grant is made for specific train18 ing and technical assistance for child abuse profes19 sionals under subsection (a)(2) shall be one that 

20 has— 

21 ‘‘(A) a diverse portfolio of training and 

22 technical resources for the diverse professionals 

23 responding to child abuse, including a digital li24 brary to promote evidence-informed practice; 

25 and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 5955 IH

1 ‘‘(B) demonstrated experience in providing 

2 training and technical assistance for child abuse 

3 professionals, especially law enforcement offi4 cers, child protective service workers, prosecu5 tors, forensic interviewers, medical profes6 sionals, victim advocates, and mental health 

7 professionals.’’; and 

8 (3) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting after 

9 ‘‘shall require’’ the following: ‘‘, in the case of a 

10 grant made under subsection (a)(1),’’. 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

12 214B of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 

13 U.S.C. 20306) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sections 213 

15 and 214’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol16 lowing: ‘‘sections 213 and 214, $19,000,000 for each 

17 of fiscal years 2019 through 2023.’’; and 

18 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘section 

19 214A’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol20 lowing: ‘‘section 214A, $6,000,000 for each of fiscal 

21 years 2019 through 2023.’’. 

22 (g) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS

23 RELATING TO TITLE 34, UNITED STATES CODE.—The 

24 Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20301 et 

25 seq.) is amended— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 5955 IH

1 (1) in section 212(1) (34 U.S.C. 20302), by 

2 striking ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 5611(b))’’ and inserting ‘‘(34 

3 U.S.C. 11111(b))’’; 

4 (2) in section 214(c)(1) (34 U.S.C. 

5 20304(c)(1)), by striking ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 5665 et seq.)’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘(34 U.S.C. 11183, 11186)’’; 

7 (3) in section 214A(c)(1) (34 U.S.C. 

8 20305(c)(1)), by striking ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 5665 et seq.)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘(34 U.S.C. 11183, 11186)’’; 

10 (4) in section 217(c)(1) (34 U.S.C. 

11 20323(c)(1)), by striking ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 5665 et seq.)’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘(34 U.S.C. 11183, 11186)’’; and 

13 (5) in section 223(c) (34 U.S.C. 20333(c)), by 

14 striking ‘‘(42 U.S.C. 5665 et seq.)’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘(34 U.S.C. 11183, 11186)’’. 

Æ 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS